When Humility Takes Time

“How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?” (Exodus 10:3)

Good question. I imagine God asks this question of each and every one of us throughout our lives. Even if we believe we humble ourselves before God, the process of humbling is continual. As we know Him better, we let Him work in our lives, untwisting what is useful in our relationship with Him from what gets in the way. As He untwists and finds what needs to go, we need to humbly accept His wisdom and instruction and trust Him to work in our lives. As He untwists and finds what needs to stay, we need to humbly accept that we haven’t accomplished something great on our own; the good in us is His.

Let’s be honest as we answer His question, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?” The more we know God and want to please Him, we want to answer with a resounding, “Not long!” But do our actions line up with our declaration? Other times, we might adamantly oppose Him, placing conditions on our response, like a logical statement of “If [you do such-and-such, God, or make someone else do such-and-such], then [I will respond appropriately with humility]…but not until then!” We throw hissy fits that might go nearly undetected by most people around us, but God knows those temper tantrums we throw with our thoughts and attitudes.

Humility takes time, but it should never stand still. It’s a continual yielding. Sometimes it’s comforting, because we know we live under God’s authority. Other times, it’s frightening, unsettling, or uncertain, because we know we live under God’s authority. Same unchanging God, but we have different responses to Him because of where we are and what we choose.